Open Wounds
by T2 Angel
Summary: Just hours after the final battle and Vergil's betrayal, Dante and Kat are now dealing with the fallout from not only the fall of Mundus and the loss of someone close to them but the pain they have both carried most of their lives. One-shot.


It wasn't that long ago their world, literally, changed forever. Dante was looking at himself in the mirror, his Devil Trigger active. He had to see it again, for whatever reason. It was quite the mind trip. So much power, so much strength. It even gave him the power to overcome Vergil. He stopped the power flow when his brother came to his mind. And that did nothing but bring pain and hatred to his mind and he couldn't have that power and be that angry at the same time.

His concentration was broken when he heard Kat groan in pain. He rushed out of the bathroom and saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning forward and clutching at her wound with a small trickle of blood coming from it.

He hurried to her and placed his hands on her so she wouldn't fall over. "What happened?"

"Just… trying to… take my shoes off." She started to get heated, "I just wanted to take off my damn shoes! That's it! Just my damn shoes! My damn shoes!"

He put his hands up to calm her down, "Kat, Kat! Relax." He waited until he breathing steadied. He kneeled down in front of her, "Let me do that." He took her shoes off.

She took a silent deep breath, "Thanks, Dante."

"No problem. Look, don't lean forward like that. You'll pull your shoulder forward, open your stitches, and bleed right through. I need to put 'em together better a little later."

She nodded.

He helped her sit up and saw tears in her eyes. A wave of concern, immediately, came over him. "Kat?"

She shook her head.

He knew her outburst over her shoes was just a cover up and knew something was going on but now he could see something was really bothering her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

He stared at her, indignantly. "Bullshit. Come on. Talk."

She didn't look at him at first. She just scanned the room before sighing. "It just all hurts. I mean… look at what we went through. All that… and for what?"

"To win. We won."

"Hard to really say that. Look at what we lost. The Order is gone. Demons all over the place. And…" This was the hardest part for her to admit. "And Vergil."

Dante hated to admit it but that part was the worst for him, too. Still, he had to put that aside, for her sake. "Everything's gonna be fine."

"I don't know if I believe that."

"Well, just stay alive long enough until you do." He looked at her wound. "And stop leaning over so much. At least, not forward. If you're tired, lie down."

She nodded.

He stared at her for another second. "Are you gonna lie down?"

"Not tired."

He sighed and sat next to her. "Yeah. Me, neither." He didn't have anything else to do. He couldn't think of anything else to do.

They both sat in silence for a long time, staring at the wall of the hotel room. They hadn't really thought of anything to say since the confrontation with Vergil. It had just been too much that happened in just the span of a few hours.

"Dante?" Kat asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?" he responded.

"Why did you stop?"

He looked at her.

She looked at him. "Why didn't you kill Vergil?"

He stared into her eyes then looked away. "Because you asked me not to."

That's the part she actually did know. "I guess, what I really want to ask is, why were you going to kill him?"

He shook his head. "You know why."

She knew all of the logical reasons but they were family. That usually trumped logic. At least, she thought so. "But, he's your brother."

"Not anymore."

She stared at him, surprised by what he said and the tone in which he said it. "Dante…"

"He wasn't my brother, anymore, Kat. He played us. Counted you as nothing. That second, he stopped being my brother. He wasn't even a Nephilim. He was just another demon."

"Then… why did you stop?"

"I told you…"

"No, what I mean is… you didn't kill him just for me?"

He looked straight ahead then exhaled, harshly, "Yeah."

"Why me?"

He looked back at her. Her question was a good one. But, in surprise for him, not that difficult to answer. "Because I owe you. I meant what I said to Vergil. We wouldn't have made it-I wouldn't have made it." He stopped. "If it wasn't for you." He looked away, down on the floor then straight ahead.

She felt heart ache at his words. "Dante…"

"You told me all he did for you. Maybe he can't be all bad. That's what stopped me. He saved you. So that made him worth sparing. Because of you." He looked at her. "That's the only reason. You."

She wanted to cry, a tear was threatening to fall. He really cared for her, appreciated her. They hadn't known each other that long but he really cared for her. She could clearly see it. It brought a feeling to her heart that she had never felt before. But that same heart still ached as she saw the expression on his face was full of more sorrow than she'd ever seen it before.

"But… I can't forget what he said, what did, what he wants to do." He steadied his breathing as he felt himself to close to rage or crying. Or both. "I can't let him become the next Mundus. Just another monster. And that's all he is. And if ever comes back… I'm going to do whatever it takes." He nodded, exhaling, "Whatever it takes."

"Dante…"

"I won't let him do it, Kat. And… I can't forgive what he did. Hell, now…" He came to a conclusion he knew his heart was going down, "I hate him."

She looked at him shocked, "Dante, come on!"

"I do, Kat. I hate him. He played us. You. Me. The Order. And I hate him. He turned his back on us and everything we were trying to do." He stopped. "He better not ever return or he's going to find a very different brother than he left here. And, if he returns, if he still tries to make war, to control humanity, I'm going after him… and nothing's gonna stop me from finishing what I started." He stopped after all of those emotions flowed out. He sighed and leaned forward, bowing his head. He realized he meant every word of what he just said. That scared him. That terrified him.

And she could see it. She saw that she wasn't the only hurt person in this hotel room. This also reminded her that, despite his attempts to prove otherwise, he is just as human as anyone else. She scooted closer to him and placed her uninjured hand on one of his.

He looked at her.

"Don't lean forward like that."

That confused him a little.

"You'll bleed out from your injury."

"I'm not hurt."

"That's not what I just heard."

He didn't realize that until she said it. But he was. He was deeply hurt. The truth was he was still very much wounded by Vergil's actions.

"It's okay to be hurt, though. Just… don't bleed out." She moved her hand to his cheek. "Or there won't be anything left." She stared into his eyes. "And I don't want to there to be nothing left."

"Not sure how much was there to begin with."

"So much. There's always been so much there."

"Do you really think so?"

"Absolutely."

He sighed. "Guess you're not the only one who needs to watch out for reopening their stitches."

She stared at him for a while and came up with a solution. "How about this? You look after my wounds and I'll look after yours."

It was something about how she said that that made Dante stop and stare at her, even get little tongue tied. He had to swallow a lump in his throat. "Mine's… gonna take a little longer to close up."

She moved her face a little closer to his. "I'll be here until it does."

He was relieved to hear that. "And after?"

She leaned even closer. "Long after… if you'll let me…"

Their lips met. They hadn't planned for this to happen. They never even imagined it would. God only knows what brought this on but they weren't about to stop now. Even though Kat initiated it, she could hardly remember what led her to believe that this was a good idea but Dante not stopping her was a sign that it was the right move. Dante had spent his time with plenty of girls but kissing Kat right now was not only the most human he ever felt, it felt more amazing than anything than he had experienced in his life. They shared one more small kiss and looked at each other.

He nodded. "I'll let you. Long as you let me."

She nodded, "Deal." She intertwined her fingers with his. "Always."

He exhaled and gave her a small, warm smile. He realized that, for the first time, all of the wounds he bore from his life were starting to show signs of healing. She smiled as she felt the same.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah, this was another idea I had while trying to finish another story that I just recently completed. So, I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please, leave me some reviews, favorites, both, or whatever you please! Thanks in advance!**

**Sincerely,  
>T2 Angel<strong>


End file.
